Swansea City boss hails ex-Bristol City player that contributed to their downfall

One former Bristol City player contributed to their downfall in Swansea City’s 2-0 win over the Robins in South Wales.
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Swansea City manager Russell Martin hailed the performance of midfielder Liam Walsh in the Welsh sides 2-0 win over his former club Bristol City.

Walsh, started as a false nine against the Robins, and caused the visiting defence several problems. He did not score, and instead Liam Cullen and Olivier Ntcham did that, but he put Max O'Leary under pressure and nearly scored against his former employers.

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The former Everton youngster was at City from January 2018 to the summer of 2021, but contended with several injuries and also had a loan spell with Coventry City. He made 22 appearances in total, playing under Lee Johnson, and then Nigel Pearson with Dean Holden not afforded the opportunity to manage him because of injury.

The 25-year-old has endured a frustrating time in South Wales with a ruptured Achilles ruling him out for a large chunk of the season. He has since returned to training in December, and has played the last several matches, and his performance against City did not go unrecognised by his manager.

He said: "Liam Walsh has been outstanding since he has come back in and he has showed everyone what he is capable of. We saw that in pre-season and we were so disappointed and devastated for him and the group because he showed so much in pre-season.

"We're really excited about Walshy in the role that he was playing in today. He got derailed but his mentality to come back, the medical teams work and the sports science guys have been incredible.

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"He's come back where he was in the pre-season. I'm really delighted for him, it was nice moment talking to him coming off the pitch at the end, I am really proud of him and pleased for him."

Swansea this season have conceded 12 goals in the last 15 minutes of matches, and it has come as a detriment to them. They had previously thrown away points from a winning position, and for a brief moment when Andi Weimann put the ball in the back of the net it could have made for a nervous few minutes in South Wales. Weimann however was adjudged to have been offside however when he headed in.

It's an unofficial derby, and both sides supporters would admit that their main rivals would be Cardiff City, or in City's case even Bristol Rovers, however matches in recent years between City and Swansea have been played with some edge, and that was the same again on Sunday. The former Norwich City defender was pleased with how the result and how they managed to perform amidst a poor run of form.

"Today we got what we deserved," said Martin in his assessment of the match in South Wales.

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"Especially because the game it is, against Bristol City and the run that we have been on. I'm really pleased they were able to perform with that courage and intensity under that circumstance.

"We limited them to very little, and then they score an offside goal at the end. It's the most pleasing thing for us how brave the line was at that point. It'd be so easy for one person to feel anxiety with a few minutes left and you're 2-0 up. Some of the moments we've had this season late on in games so it'd be easy for someone to feel anxious and drop to be a goal."

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